I'm Absolutely Fine! by The Midult

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. This week we talk about Emilie turning 50 and why transitions are weird. Speaking of weird transitions, this is the last episode of the podcast for now. After three million downloads, six years and 237 episodes, we are taking a break in order to focus on some other, exciting things. Please join us on Instagram, where we'll still be posting, ranting and raving. Thank you to our gorgeous producer Chelsey for putting up with us week after week; all the lovely sponsors who believed in us; all the extraordinary guests who gave us free therapy, enlightened us, made us laugh and cry. It has been such a privilege to be part of the podverse - here's to leaping off the edge and defying gravity. See you on the other side… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Are you a functioning panic-aholic? Are we reaching our panic rock bottom? Or is it bottomless panic like bottomless brunch but very much less fun? We discuss this and why fairy lights might be the only things lighting our souls right now. Plus an eyeliner trick to make your eyes pop - in a good way… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Anyway this week we talk about how we are almost unable to cope with the sheer volume of feedback/surveys/opinions demanded of us via email and text and phone: ‘TELL US HOW WE DID” they ask, then beg, then order us. Couldn't they just wait for us to complain - which we can't be bothered to do? To distract us we talk about the power of perfume to give us armour (Annabel wears fragrance every day) and to remind us of people, places, things…Starring Miller Harris, Cire Trudon, Chanel, Dyptique, Jo Malone London and Narciso Rodriguez. What are you guys wearing? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. This week we go retro and talk about Rivals: unashamedly joyful romp or uncomfortable reminder of the inequities of the 80s? How much has really changed? Also - are there any Midults out there not devoted to lip balm? Do you have one in every desk drawer, coat pocket, bottom of bag? Is it less a lip balm, more a balm for our frazzled synapses? Lip balms supporting our existential crises this week include By Terry Baume de Rose Lip Balm, Carmex Classic Lip Pot Balm, Vaseline Lip Therapy Tin in Rosy Lips, Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Mango and Ciate Watermelon Burst 2-in-1 Everyday Lip Mask & Balm… We've clearly gone balmy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're taking a break from rifling through Annabel's beauty drawers - instead we've gone to the vault and an episode we recorded last year about poetry. Because let's face it, we are a little desperate for a corner of calm that we can tuck ourselves into; a mini-escape that is not demanding or exhausting or expensive. Our guest Allie Esiri found a way to calm the wild voices in her head; she is a poetry anthologist who harnesses our extraordinary literary resources to offer - if not a solution - then a balm for the soul. Of course, you might be thinking, ‘How is reading a poem a day going to make me feel less mad, vulnerable, sad, tired, stretched, defeated?'…Well, Allie came and talked about poetry. Read a few of her favourites. Recommended a few others. Does poetry have the power to make us feel a little less alone? Have a listen. Allie's book 365 Poems for Life is out now… Normal service will resume next week, and when we say ‘normal', we mean that term loosely, obviously… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Ok so Annabel is teaching Emilie to darn. YES, DARN. Because, MOTHS. But it's not all rock ‘n roll. We also talk about parties (not dreading at all) and Annabel delivers a Midiot's guide to blusher, so we don't go out into the world looking like Victorian consumptives/Aunt Sally. She recommends Merit Flush Balm Cheek Colour in Cheeky; Charlotte Tilbury Matte Beauty Blush Wand in Pillow Talk and Jones Road Lip and Cheek Stick in Bright Coral…Check out our Instagram for the tutorials... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. This week we discuss little pick me ups - Emilie tried culottes and she can tell you right now that they did not pick her up. AVOID AVOID…Instead Annabel recommends lip gloss and lots of it (yes, very Rivals)…We talk about Ciate's Glow Dewy Gloss, Clarins' Lip Perfector and Chanel's Rouge Coco Flash as well as Annabel's prescription for an easy Sunday face: Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow, Guerlain Terracotta The Bronzing Powder and Jones Road Lip and Cheek Stick. Add jeans, a nice jumper and hoops. Of course, hoops... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Emilie is just back from her 30 year university reunion. 30 years!!! We discuss ALL THE FEELINGS around that particular craziness. Plus the triggering nature of musicals *howls*. And the power of baths, particularly when powered by Olverum... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Ok so it turns out that Annabel has been keeping secrets from Emilie… in the form of RapidBrow Eyebrow Enhancing Serum… Hey, a girl's got to have her secrets, and also fantastic eyebrows… apparently this stuff really works! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. So guys, how are you doing? Are you enjoying our tweakment? This week we're all about tinted moisturiser which Annabel is practically drinking and Emilie is predictably frightened of. Can she face her fear? Annabel attacks her with Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow, Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint, Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 30 and Kosas BB Burst Tinted Gel Cream… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New term, same shit: Ok we're back. But given how close to the edge we actually are, we are actually having a tweakment and making a change to Podcast from the Edge. Emilie is sick of staring at the howling horror of her face. Annabel is a beauty expert so she is going to talk us through one or two products a week: simple things that might make life a little easier and hopefully make us all feel a little more like a fully functioning human women…First up eye stuff! Starring Sali Hughes for Revolution Skincare Ringlight Creamy Illuminating Eye Balm, Erborian CC Eye and Hannah Martin X Ciaté brushes… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're absolutely fine but…we might have a bit of September dread. Not that shiny new term feeling, with a fat pencil case and a fresh notebook, but more of a 'holy fuck it is only four months until 2025 and what have we achieved!?!' kinda thing. Anyway to lessen the load we put together the best bits from two wise souls we talked to this year. Psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell, whose book What Am I Missing? is about why, after years of therapy, we sometimes still find ourselves stuck. She unpicks some of the knottiness that holds us back through four blind spot profiles: Are you a rock, a hustler, a gladiator or a bridge? We warn you: they are horribly resonant. And next we have the lovely Cariad Lloyd. Sadly, her father died suddenly when she was 15 and, after years of floundering, she took her grief and turned it into a beautiful living thing: her award-winning podcast Griefcast and her wonderful book You Are Not Alone, which is out in paperback. We talk grief myths, why the process doesn't happen in a straight line, how to support people who have lost someone and why all that really matters is showing up…Anyway, this is not a self-help podcast but we hope it helps. Let us know how you are doing. And we'll see you in September…PS: It's our 200th episode…thank you so much for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok we're back, August is in full flow and we have stitched together our favourite bits from Podcast from the Edge: remember the time we gave up complaining? Or all the alternative facts for Midults that serve us well? In this Frankenstein's monster of an episode there are random acts of kindness, some unserious wisdom and rookie errors. We also talk about underwear and our beards, and why this year we fully embraced our CRONE ERA. Brat girl summer? Hot girl summer? Come on old girls, it's a Midult summer special…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, it's podcast mash-up time! We're starting with two of our favourite guests from the past year. First up is the incomparable Sophie Williams: There are few people as fluent, compassionate and authoritative and she came on the podcast to talk about her latest book, The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back. She was of course sensational; making us a little angry and lot more informed. Brace yourselves and have a listen... After Sophie Williams, there's another friend of the pod. There aren't many people who can go by just one name: Madonna, Cher, Beyonce and….Trinny. And we all need a Trinny in our lives, so here she is talking positivity and how she finds the confidence, hell, the energy to keep - well - flourishing so magnificently…plus her beauty must-haves. Obviously… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. So guys, how are you doing? Are you fiiiiiiiine or are you hurtling towards an inevitable pre-holiday collapse? Are you no longer able to reply to anything? Does every communication feel as if it is landing at 5:30pm on a Friday? Do you keep dropping things or bumping into things? Are you boring yourself every time you open your mouth? Do you feel hungover to hell even though you are not drinking? IS JULY BREAKING YOU? AAAARGH… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. THIS WEEK we're all about the backhanded compliment… “You're ageing gracefully”. Translation: your entire face is falling off and, oddly, you don't seem to mind. “It's very you”. Translation: No one but you would be stupid enough to wear that. “I love how discerning you are”. Translation: God you're a pain in the arse -  just order from the menu like a normal person. Have you had a jaw-dropper recently? Or are you guilty of dishing them out? Let us know...  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. THIS WEEK…Are you at the end of your tether? Do you keep making idle threats such as “Don't make me say it again” or “I swear I will kill you if you…”? Do you keep setting boundaries (because we are so mentally healthy) and then watching as the boundary crumbles? Are you going to need a bigger boundary? Then this is the episode for you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are delighted Hugo Rifkind found some space for us during this busy election time… because in between skewering politicians and offering searing commentary in both his Times column and radio show, Hugo Rifkind has written a novel, called Rabbits, which is out now. It's been variously described as everything from Saltburn with kilts, Trainspotting meets The Secret History – it's set in the 90s in Scotland and it's really excellent, so order it now for your holiday. Sorry to be bossy. We talk about teenage kicks, the maddest bits of the election so far and why he's SHOCK HORROR optimistic about the future... PLUS This week's episode is bravely brought to you by seasn, non-alcoholic aromatic bitters designed to give any drink something a little bit extra, which Emilie is putting on absolutely everything. seasn is the brainchild of Ben Branson, who is the founder of elegant non-alcoholic sprits Seedlip. He is also on this week's podcast talking to us about creating a breakout category of his own and how he made his twin super powers of ADHD and autism work for him...seasn is available to buy online from seasnyourdrinks.com, and we have an offer for you guys - 15% off with the code MIDULTSEASN15.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here at The Midult we're slightly obsessed with Clover Stroud and her beautiful, brutal (brutiful?) books. So we are thrilled to say she's back on the podcast to talk about her latest, The Giant on The Skyline, which is about home, belonging and learning to let go. Clover's writing is full of ghosts, memories, life and death, and we talk about all these big things, as well as what it's like to uproot your family and move from Wiltshire to Washington, at the tender age of 48. Adventure or shitshow? Fun or frightening? Or like everything right now, is it a bit of both? This episode is sponsored by Wild Nutrition who is offering Midults 50% off their first three months of orders, with the code MIDULT50 on wildnutrition.com/midult TS&CS apply.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we have decided to let go of hot girl summer and are celebrating OLD GIRL SUMMER. As in, wear a bikini or don't, old girl. As in, be gentle with yourself. As in, who cares if your leg hair is making friends with the leg hair of the person next door to you on the commute. As in, you have never actually been hotter, old girl…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we're all about BIG CRONE ENERGY…Have we entered our crone era? Maybe…wisdom, inner knowing, intuition, perspective and a generally disagreeable manner? Let's reclaim the crone… PS: The book Emilie was talking about is A History of Women in 101 Objects by Annabelle Hirsch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katherine Ormerod is a writer, journalist, content creator and influencer. If you've encountered her sharp bob and soigné style, it won't surprise you that her home is also super slick. But it might surprise you to know that Katherine is a renter, and she has been decorating her rental homes with more zeal than we have come to expect even from owners. We're talking DIY, upholstery, shelving, all with such elan that she's written a book on it, Your Not Forever Home, out now. But it's not just a book about the power of a scalloped shelf, it's also a bit of a rental revolution (essential given the current financial climate), as well as a bit of a feminist manifesto. We talk about the power of vinyl, high/low purchases and why fuckups are the price you pay to learn skill that you'll have forever… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk all the tiny, micro-traumas we experience that leave us feeling all wonky. You know, like when someone points a phone at you mid-Facetime. Or a ball lands at your feet in the park and you are clearly expected to kick it, or throw it or…sorry just passed out there for a second…or the doorbell ringing: is it a murderer? Is it the police telling you everyone is dead? Is it that book you ordered on positive thinking? And if that's not enough tiny trauma, we've launched a Substack. Sorry. We'd love you to continue to sail with us on HMS Midulthood for this bumpy, occasionally nausea-inducing, disappointingly-hot-pirate-free voyage on Substack - you know that we believe: if we're not in it together, we're not in it at all…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OK Annabel is still OOO, so Emilie has roped in a friend of the pod, the marvellous Esther Coren to help. Esther has her own podcast, Giles Coren Has No Idea and a Substack called The Spike and she also gives excellent book recommendations. Given we're all feeling mad, bad and dangerous to know (not in a swashbuckling-Byronic-way but in a teetering on The-Brink-kind-of-way) perhaps books can soothe us tiny bit: little umbrellas for the mind. We talk about The Paleo Life by Clare Foges (out June 6), Quint by Robert Lautner, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (May 14), One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Egg & I by Betty MacDonald (out of print, but will be on World of Books, which, incidentally, is the preloved Amazon), Hugo Rifkind's Rabbits (also June 6), and In Memoriam by Alice Winn. Plus there's a cameo from Esther's cat Iris.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn't love a solution story? The tale of a grown-up woman who had a problem and thought, ‘You know what? I am not going to wait for some fucker to fix this – I am just going to do it myself'? This week we have two such stories from the podvault – first up is Sahar Hashemi who smashed through many a ceiling and is still busy opening lots of doors for women: she founded Coffee Republic - three years before Starbucks landed on our shores; for the past couple of years, she's been putting her considerable energy into spotlighting women-owned businesses with her Buy Women Built movement; asking the question: why do we only hear about the men? Did you know that 81% of 11-18-year olds are unable to name one single female entrepreneur? She's out to change all that.  Then we have some highlights from our interview with Joanna Jensen, who suffered from eczema as a child and, when her own children were born with the same condition, she decided ‘enough is enough.' In 2010 she created Child's Farm from her kitchen table and, by the end of the decade, it was the UK's number one baby and child brand. She sold it to Cussons for £40 million in 2022. *does a little dance*. Anyway, it might sound like an enviably smooth ride but, like all of these stories, it is full of bumps, lumps, divorce and other crises. Why have one brilliant female entrepreneur when you can have two? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You will have heard of Hadley Freeman, The Sunday Times columnist who writes about feminism, the arts, politics and, she says, anything else that takes her fancy. She is also the author of several acclaimed books – including Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, just out in paperback. It's a searing record of her own illness, illuminating the dark corners of this most brutal of mental health disorders, with her deft blend of forensic detail and humour. Please note we talk frankly about this devastating illness. It sounds “oof” (take this as your trigger warning) but Hadley is so generous both in the book and on the podcast that it feels like a ray of light rather than a trauma wallow... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk about all the terrible things that happen to our faces and bodies in pictures: one huge eye bulging next to a normal-sized one; extra leg/hand/foot (who does that belong to?!?), limbs that look like hams - is it because we're terrible people? Also we're announcing a change. Sorry. We hate change. But we have to change. Here's the thing: For the past six years, we've been sending out our free newsletter. But if internet years were like dog years that would be (Jesus, MATHS now?) 42 years. It's so nice to get things for free, isn't it? Unfortunately, it's no longer possible for us to do it for free, so we are going to have to change. And, by change, we mean charge. We'd love you to continue to sail with us on HMS Midulthood for this bumpy, occasionally nausea-inducing, disappointingly-hot-pirate-free voyage on Substack - you know we believe that, if we're not in it together, we're not in it at all. Link in bio…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you near burn out? Do you find yourself having the same arguments over and over again? Have you had therapy and still find yourself stuck down the same emotional cul-de-sac? In other words, what are you missing? Well, this week we are thrilled to welcome psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell back to the podcast. She's written another banger of a book, What Am I Missing?, about our blind spots and how they hold us back. We talk about whether we are Rocks, Gladiators, Hustlers or Bridges; about attachment styles and assumptions. Yikes… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Good Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This podshot is all about the anti-bucket list: things we plan never to do again. Are we all moving from our “Yes please!” era to our “Are you f***ing joking?” era? Hell, yes. Ouzo (just hearing the word makes us gag a little), organised fun, bikini waxes, segways and more… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"When you talk about women like me, there comes a whole host of other things: 'what religion is she? What caste is she? Does she eat pork? Why is she holding champagne? Why is she wearing those clothes?' Then come death threats. And if you're not wearing a headscarf, if you're not talking about religion, you're in no man's land. They say 'you're Asian and you're acting mainstream, what the heck's that about?'" This week on the podcast, the indomitable Saira Khan on the reality of being an Asian woman in the UK and why, with her skincare line, Saira Skin, she's finally found her tribe. Please note there are themes of sexual abuse in this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. Anyway, needless to say, 2024 is kicking our arses…So what does fun even look like, these days? Sitting in the car outside the house? Going home to get ugly? Rubbing our cracked heels together like decrepit crickets? Sending everyone masses of love… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok guys, time to talk about sex. Are we doing it right/enough? Is the sex we're having good/interesting/naughty enough? Are we good/interesting/naughty enough? And what to do when it feels as though it's all gone wrong. THE PRESSURE. So we roped in a psychosexual therapist, and not just any psychosexual therapist: Kate Moyle is also the host of The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast and she's written a book called The Science of Sex: Every Question About Your Sex Life Answered. We discuss rhetorical predicaments couples can find themselves in; sexual anxiety; “should sex”; how to fix a sex drought; how to introduce kink and what to say to yourself if you are single, no longer 25 and haven't had sex with someone new for a long time. Plus…. lube. LET'S GET DOWN TO IT… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we are asking: are you a kitchen criminal? Do you gouge the butter rather than scrape? Do you try to shove the rubbish down in to the bin again and again in order to avoid taking it out? Do you put the milk bottle back in the fridge with a pointlessly minuscule amount left in it? Time to confess… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've heard of the glass ceiling, of course. You may have bumped your head on it - or even smashed through it. But have you heard of the glass cliff? This is the phenomenon where female leaders are much more likely to be given the opportunity to step into leadership roles within businesses that are already in a prolonged period of poor performance. And therefore, set up for organisational failure. Well, the wondrous Sophie Williams (author of Anti-Racist Ally and Millennial Black) is the global expert on this phenomenon and it's what her latest book - The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back - is all about. She's on the podcast this week being magnificent; making us a little angry and lot more informed. Brace yourselves and have a listen...   The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back out on March 7 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. Recently we asked for your best advice - in just four words. As usual you were amazing: “Arrange your alibi first”, said @samanthaddv, “I charge for that” said @duckettlist, “Try not to worry” said @laura_bradley…Tune in for more...    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabel was talking to a friend the other day who - sounding improbably zen - confessed that she had given up complaining. Not coffee, not booze, not sugar. But complaining. And we could immediately see the point: imagine not relying on all the negativity and panic and self-doubt for conversation? Imagine…So move over manifesting, we're sharing this hot tip, because we are bottomlessly kind. So kind that we scream at other drivers when we're in our cars, to keep them safe and alert on the roads. So kind that we leave parties early as a way of giving other people permission to leave early too – like a shepherdess guiding the meek home. JUST SO KIND. We also talk about holiday fantasies – it's that kind of episode… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This episode we are all about conversational responses for February. Mostly “No”. But also “Gosh” - for when a response is required but you don't know what to say. And maybe “I don't care”. Because, let's face it…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is a member of the DDC – the Dead Dad Club. Just like us. Sadly, Cariad Lloyd has been a member since she was 15, when her father died suddenly. After years of floundering, she took her grief and turned it into a beautiful living thing – by talking about it on her award-winning podcast Griefcast and writing about it in her wonderful book You Are Not Alone, out in paperback on the 1st February. She talks to people about their experience of grief and death and in doing so, has become a friend to hundreds of thousands, creating a gentle grief guide on how to navigate this most personal and painful of experiences. We talk grief myths, why the process doesn't happen in a straight line, how to support people who have lost someone, and why all that really matters is showing up… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk about THINGS YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE A GROWN-UP. Like: You should never buy the smallest size you can squeeze into (it is not the victory it once seemed to be); moths and leaks make you panic; something always hurts (knee.. back… soul); fitted sheets are having a laugh and you know more and less at the same time…so where does that leave us?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Year's Resolutions seem to have criticism and judgement woven through them? How can I be better? Do better? How can I improve myself? Eurgh. So instead in 2024 we are going to aim for self-acceptance, rather than self-improvement. Let's celebrate our bits of disgustingness and our flaws and our failings. In this episode we ask all the deep questions, such as: How often do you wash your bra? When you eat a steak, these days, do you feel like you are a boa constrictor digesting a villager? How long ago was 1970 (obviously 30 years is the correct answer)? Hello 2024! Please bring us buns of steel and also buns of cinnamon; shoes that are secretly orthopaedic but look really slutty and the light at the end of the tunnel. Let's unleash laughter, and also hell…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. In this weird opening-of-the-year week, we talk about what to say when people ask you about your New Year's Resolutions. An intolerable question. Perhaps you plan to be slightly worse this year? Become a dark force? A bad omen? Or will you be taking up spiritual veganism? There's everything to play for.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone!! We're coming to you direct from the perineum of the year…So that's nice…Don't know what day it is…Don't know what to eat next but I'm sure we'll be eating something imminently. We just wanted to pop up and share with you one of our most popular episodes of 2023, clearly because it's called How To Be Happier. Professor Cassie Holmes is a happiness teacher. At UCLA. To MBAs. She is also an award-winning academic and social psychologist, who, nearly defeated by the grind, decided to learn how to have a more fulfilling existence. And - spoiler alert - it's mostly about how we manage our time. Happily, she's written a book about it called HAPPIER HOUR, full of practical tips and wisdom to help everyone find their happy hour. And guess what? It's not about being richer or better looking. We talked about how paying attention, putting down our phones and thinking small rather than big are the keys to unlock happiness. Anyway, it seemed like an appropriate time to leave it here for anyone who needs it…Happy New Year, see you in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023 has been huge for Anna Whitehouse, also known as Mother Pukka. She's been fighting for flexible working rights for eight years and last week it was announced that her bill will become law in 2024. Her Heart FM radio show is going from strength to strength with over 11 million listeners. She's also written a pair of books about childcare and flexible working called Divide and Conquer - and the person with whom she wrote these books is her soon-to-be ex-husband. And they are plotting a loving divorce. It can't be easy writing, working, being an activist whilst also negotiating the dying embers of a marriage. So many plates spinning. We talk about why hers isn't the traditional happy ending, but there is happiness, there is Hinge and there is the realisation that what she has really been fighting for is choice. Happy Christmas everyone…see you on the other side... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does today's guest really need an introduction? After all, who didn't watch What Not To Wear in the early Noughties and cry and laugh with the women Trinny and Susannah transformed? Who hasn't marvelled at the success of her beauty brand Trinny London, and the way she's made Instagram her own? This is a woman who has made a career out of trying to help women feel better about themselves. Over the years, she has learnt to feel fearless - and now she's written the book on it. We were thrilled that she is here to share some of that courageous wisdom and to talk to us about how she finds the confidence, hell, the energy to keep - well - flourishing so magnificently. She tells us why her house is the Ritz for mice, why she eats broccoli for breakfast, how she talks to her demons; as well as dispensing some hot, skincare tips to keep us looking fresh.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk about party season. Are you dreading it? Do you have the energy for it? If so, how? Incidentally we recorded this podcast lying on the floor…nearly there…

Regular listeners of the podcast will know that we absolutely love a book that revolves around women's stories; that reclaims/wrestles the narrative from the petty patriarchal posturers of history. So we were delighted when Annabelle Hirsch's 'A History of Women in 101 Objects' landed on our doormats. The book tells stories of female history through ‘things'; through the quiet power of their everyday items: perfumed gloves, thumbscrews, sewing machines, the Brontës' miniature books, the contraceptive pill and abortion testimony. Female life through the ages, ordinary and extraordinary is here. We talk to Annabelle about the power of doubt, horror and humour, and the amazing resilience, resourcefulness and strength that women have shown every single day since the dawn of time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week it's all about the rookie errors. Yes we are seasoned, experienced, wise, broken in, been around (WILL YOU STOP NOW) but we are still making basic balls ups. Like putting on our coats ten minutes before we leave the house so we end up in a muck sweat, wearing g-strings and being surprised that we spend the whole day “adjusting” and saying things like, “Don't worry, I'll remember that,” when we absolutely will not… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to look like a fully-functioning woman? The odds are against us BUT…'tis the season of miracles after all. So, Annabel has a rummage through her drawers to put together a beauty box selection of old favourites and new wonders to try and fix our faces. And bodies. And spirits. Emilie falls in love with Sun Bum's Glow 30. We get transported back to our late 20s by REN's Moroccan Rose Otto, and find that every woman needs a bit of Clarins, Charlotte Tilbury and Glossier in her arsenal. There's budget beauty, a bust-the-bank mascara, a lot of wisdom (Annabel) and some idiocy (Emilie). Go from sickly, consumptive Victorian child to fully functioning woman in a flash…Plus if you head to Instagram (@themidult) we're running a competition…   Starring…   REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash Nécessaire Body Wash Eucalyptus Dr Bronner Eucalyptus Pure-Castille Liquid Soap Beauty Pie Firewall Blend Bath & Shower Oil & Niacinamide Drops Clarins L'Huile Tonique Sol de Janeiro Beija Flor Elasti-Cream CeraVe Body Lotion Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm Trinny London Enzyme Balm Cleanser Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant Revolution X Sali Hughes Better in 5 Express Exfoliating Mask Vichy Normaderm 3-in-1 Nivea Soft Moisturiser RMS Beauty Primer Glossier Future Dew & Stretch Balm Concealer & Boy Brow SunBum Glow 30 Erborian CC Cream in Doré & Eye Cream in Doré Charlotte Tilbury Healthy Glow & Invisible UV Flawless Primer Drunk Elephant Sunshine Drops Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream & Translucent Bronzing Tint Hourglass Veil Hydrating Skin Tint Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 30 & True Skin Serum Concealer Rose Inc Soft Light Skin Smoothing Liquid Foundation & Brow Renew & Lip/Cheek Colour in “hydrangea” Merit Blusher Hannah Martin & Ciaté brushes Benefit They're Real mascara Westman Atelier mascara Hermes Rosy lip enhancer Hershesons Almost Everything Cream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. Ok so Emilie was on the tube when a nice young man politely offered her his seat. IT'S HAPPENING… Annabel got into a swearing match with a much older woman, both from the comfort of their cars. Are you turning into “THAT WOMAN”? The harridan? The banshee? Please send comforting examples…because if we're not in it together, we're not in it at all... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water. Water is meant to give us good skin, improved mental health and more energy. What does it actually give us? Pee. We all know we're supposed to get eight hours sleep a night or - they tell us again and again - we may go mad and die. How many of us manage? How many times in the past week, month, year have you woken up at 2am, 3am, 4am and then started the useless, desperate process of trying to get back to sleep? Why is sleep such a scam? It turns out there are a lot of things that are scams in our lives: things that are supposed to be good for us but instead are brutal: like Christmas. And weekends. On the podcast this week we discuss these, why we are exhausted by life's tiny dilemmas (let alone the big, hairy ones) and phrases we'd like to retire, such as, “I did a thing”. Anyway we did a thing, link in bio… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there's only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. Anyway, it's spooky season and we imagine some terrifying haunted house scenarios: a room where your WhatsApp groups have all come to life; another room where there's a party and people keep saying ‘So, tell me about you…'; a hall of mirrors where each one reflects your mother back at you. And she's always saying something dispiriting like ‘Your hair is much better like that.' #shudders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices